Skyscanner reveals top 50 destinations for UK travellers

Travel search site www.skyscanner.com reveals the top 50 most searched for destinations from UK airports for travel in 2010.

In the top spot is Malaga, moving up one place from last year. Tenerife and Alicante are second and third, meaning Spain takes the top three positions.

Orlando is a new entry into the top ten, rising 12 places since last year. Dalaman holds its position as the 5th most searched for destination for a second year in a row, whist New York also brakes into the top 10, up five positions from last year.

Palma comes in 8th, losing one spot since last year; Lanzarote is 9th, rising four places, and Geneva is 10th, dropping two places.

Overall Spain is yet again the most popular country for Brits to visit, with 11 Spanish destinations within the top 50, five of which are in the top 10.

“These early indications show that Spain is still by far the most popular destination for British travellers. Medium and long haul locations also seem to be on the rise compared to last year, suggesting that holiday budgets may be growing after a tough financial year” said Barry Smith, Skyscanner co-founder and business director.

Brand new entries to the top 10 are Johannesburg and Cape Town, which will be welcoming the World Cup in 2010. Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong also entered the top 50.

Destinations dropping most in search volume are Edinburgh, Salzburg, Murcia and London. Fuerteventura also fell in the rankings but the fall was dispraportionate to the year before because of Ryanair suspending its service. Other airlines stepped in, such as Easyjet, Palm Air, Monarch and Jet2 to fill the gap but not in time to halt the slide in the ranking. In the coming year Fuerteventura will be helped with the new airport terminal opening and the capability to welcome more flights to the island. Irish property owners and visitors will be helped with Ryanair reinstating its flights to the island in March 2010.

1. Malaga, (Spain) [+1]
2. Tenerife (Spain) [+2]
3. Alicante (Spain)[0]
4. Orlando (USA) [+12]
5. Dalaman (Turkey) [0]
6. Faro (Portugal) [0]
7. New York (USA) [+5]
8. Palma (Spain) [-1]
9. Lanzarote (Spain) [+4]
10. Geneva (Switzerland) [-2]

11. Bangkok (Thailand) [+11]
12. Paphos (Cyprus) [-3]
13. Barcelona (Spain) [+1]
14. London (UK) [-13]
15. Bodrum (Turkey) [-4]
16. Paris (France) [+1]
17. Rome (Italy) [-2]
18. Gran Canaria (Spain) [+1]
19. Larnaca (Cyprus) [+1]
20. Sydney (Australia) [+7]

21. Johannesburg (South Africa) [New Entry]
22. Amsterdam (Netherlands) [-4]
23. Murcia (Spain) [-13]
24. Dublin (Ireland) [-1]
25. Ibiza (Spain) [+5]
26. Prague (Czech Republic) [-2]
27. Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) [+11]
28. Auckland (New Zealand) [+11]
29. Venice (Italy) [+4]
30. Luqa (Malta) [+5]



31. Krakow (Poland) [-5]
32. Las Vegas (USA) [+13]
33. Cape Town (South Africa) [New Entry]
34. Melbourne (Australia) [New Entry]
35. Fuerteventura (Spain) [-10]
36. Berlin (Germany) [+1]
37. Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) [New Entry]
38. Marrakech (Morocco) [-9]
39. Milan (Italy) [-7]
40. Dubai (UAE) [New Entry]

41. Madrid (Spain) [-5]
42. Hong Kong (Hong Kong) [New Entry]
43. Perth (Australia) [New Entry]
44. Edinburgh (UK) [-16]
45. Munich (Germany) [New Entry]
46. Salzburg (Austria) [-15]
47. Crete (Greece) [-6]
48. Brisbane (Australia) [New Entry]
49. Sofia (Bulgaria) [-2]
50. Nice (France) [-2]

About Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a leading travel search site based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Skyscanner provides instant online comparison on flight prices for over 670,000 routes on over 600 airlines, as well as car hire, hotel and holiday price comparison. With Skyscanner, users can browse without having to enter specific dates or even destinations, and Skyscanner is available in 20 different languages including French, German and Spanish.